Rantings and Ravings

This is the worst time of the year, in my opinion. Winter is essentially past and most of the snow has melted with the exception of the dirty mounds of ice, hiding in the shadows.

But it isn't really spring yet either. A few hints of green are trying to appear, but mostly it is just various shades of brown around here.

Too muddy to hike, too slushy to ski, to windy to bike, oh dear me.

Okay, that sounded like a page out of a Dr. Seuss book. Too much time being house bound with small children.

I actually do well in the dead of winter. I bundle up and get out as often as I can. I can take the cold, I just hate being out in the wind. Wind is such a Carbon County spring time delight. It has a purpose I guess. It does seem to help dry out the mud faster than just the sun alone. But mostly it just gets on my nerves.

My outdoor thermometer can show that it is almost 50 degrees just out my back door. Then I step into the breeze and reality hits. Wind chill of 20.

Back into the house for many more layers on. I leave my shorts on just to prove that spring is just around the bend. So my knees freeze.

I stop and look at each shrub and tree in my yard, to see what is alive. I use my fingernail to search under the bark for a hint of green that signals that they have survived.

This year I think I am having a harder time with this slow transition to the warm.

I ventured down to Phoenix to take in a Cub's spring training game. Last weekend I sat at the ball field in shorts and a t-shirt with the sun melting the muscles in my back and burning my left ear.

The outfield was emerald green and the left field flag hung limp in the absence of wind. The locals had jackets because it was barely hitting 70. I was in seventh heaven.

So here we are back home after a nine hour car ride with a four year old singing the ABC song incorrectly, over and over again for six of them. We drove back into Price surrounded by brown and wind.

I am in my shorts still trying to make a statement to Mother Nature. It's not working so far.

But the temperatures are inching up and the snow continues to retreat. I checked out the bike trail today and despite the mud, there are fresh bike tracks heading in and out. A good sign.

Even though it seems like a long harsh winter, it really is the first "normal" winter we have had in a while. Soon enough it will be over and warm weather will again grace us with its presence.